Our Story
by Athie Lestrade
Summary: Years before I met Kaito KID, or even knew who he was. Another boy changed my life. That boy was called Kuroba Kaito. I wouldn't know until many years later that those 2 men were one and the same.
1. ch0: Prologue

**Our Story - Prologue**

* * *

One of my most vivid memories is from when I was only eight years old. I remember it well because I was depressed at the time and that was the day I almost snapped. However, it's also the day that I came out of my depression and started to enjoy life again.

Now, you may be wondering: How on earth does an eight year old get depressed, aren't they supposed to be happy little kids?

To put it simply, I was exceedingly bored. Not to brag, but I've always been smart for my age, and school was a mind-numbing bore. Everything was too easy but they said that I wasn't old enough to try anything harder. Even my parents didn't think I was ready; my mom just wanted me to stay a little boy forever because I was, in her words "Simply adorable!" and my dad was always too busy to notice or pay me any attention, other than to suggest books for me to read so I would leave him alone.

Being so young, I wasn't allowed to say anything against the rules, against the adults, no matter how smart I was. Though goodness knows, I tried.

I felt like an eighteen year old trapped in a body that was far too young, far too small and far too unconvincing. It was suffocating and I hated it with a passion. But I put a wall, and pretended that I wasn't really screaming inside.

They all believed me, thinking that nothing could logically upset an eight year old boy. They were correct in a way; nothing should logically have been able to upset me. There wasn't any real reason for me to be depressed after all. Not in their eyes anyways.

I was one of the rich kids. I had good clothes, food, parents that loved me, and I had no shortage of friends. My parents loved me, there was no doubt about that, but they treated me like I was normal, pretended that I wasn't smarter than any other kid my age. They just refused to admit that I was strange. Everyone in my family was odd in some way or another and they were determined that I would be normal, no matter what.

Sure, I had lots of people that most would consider friends. I prefer to think of them as acquaintances. None of them actually knew anything about my personality, what I liked and disliked or even what my favorite color was. The only exception to that was Ran. I'm pretty sure that she knew my favorite color.

So, in truth, I had plenty of reasons. The rest of the world was just too dense to see them. At least, that's what I believed at the time. I know now that my walls just kept everyone on the outside and no one saw how truly unhappy I was. I suppose that, that was my fault.

But, enough of my silly chattering, let's go back to the beginning… it was the year I turned eight and the day that changed my life. I feel that, that's an appropriate place to start.

I was heading to Ekoda library, as usual, because they almost always had my favorite books on hand to read. There was a murder along the way, as usual; it's something that I've grown used to for eight years. It was on the train this time, new place, same routine. The police suspected the wrong man, as usual, because of the false evidence left behind. And no one would listen to me, as usual, even though I know who the real murderer was, as usual.

The suspect, a tall man with short black hair, cropped at his ear and angular features, argued with the police and denied all charges while the real murderer, a fragile-looking woman in her early thirties with long brown hair curled into a bun on top of her head, sat in the corner, supposedly mourning her late husband.

"But you've got to believe me, that man is innocent!" I exclaimed, trying to convince the inspector on duty. He was a gray and balding man in his late fifties, with black eyes made smaller by his thick coke-bottle glasses. Judging by the glasses, which had gone out of style quite a few years ago, he wasn't too fond of change. He also, apparently didn't like to be corrected by eight year old boys.

"What would a brat like you know?" He asked irritably. "We've got the evidence and it all points to him, who else could it be?"

"He was framed!" I insisted. The inspector shook his head disgustedly and walked towards the woman in the corner, presumably to ask her more questions. I marched over to the benches that were nailed to the wall and sat down, fuming.

Even if I was only eight, kids usually notice more than adults because they're shorter, more curious and don't search for just one answer. Adults always search for the first answer, the one with the least amount of explaining. They probably think that it would waste too much time to do it properly.

Stupid adults, always thinking closed mindedly. They want one solution and one solution only, usually the first thing they come up with. That's why society is so messed-up, it's all their fault! If they were just gone, we could invent new things. Make the world a better place! If they were only gone…

At that point I started running through all the murders that I'd ever seen, thinking about ways that I could get rid of them, all at once. I was so obsessed that I didn't hear someone sit down next to me until they spoke.

"Why don't you just prove it?"

The voice was high pitched, leading me to believe that the owner of it was a girl. I turned to look and unexpectedly found myself face-to-face with a boy my age. We were so alike that for a moment, I wondered if I was looking into a mirror. The boy grinned, breaking the illusion.

My mind started to clear away the fog of murders as I studied the boy next to me. I noted that his hair was a lot messier then mine and that he was about an inch shorter than me. He looked totally ordinary, except for his eyes.

They were a startling shade of deep violet that twinkled mischievously, as if he was constantly laughing at the world. I liked his eyes the most; I thought that they were brilliant. I almost got lost in them for a moment before returning to my senses.

"I'd love to but they wouldn't listen to me." I said, frustrated. He just shot me a little smile and asked me where my evidence was. I pointed them out to him and watched as he walked around the train, just looking at everything. Finally he walked back over and sat on the bench once again, whistling a tune under his breath. I wondered what he'd come up with while looking.

"Convince one of the nicer officers that you know what you're talking about and show them the evidence, they'll tell the inspector for you." He informed me. "Less work for you that way."

I stared at him in awe, it was so amazingly simple! I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it myself. I silently berated myself on my stupidity.

"Thanks a lot! By the way, my name is Kudo Shinichi." I said, extending a hand for him to shake.

"I'm Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire! Charmed, I'm sure." It was a joke the way he said it and I fought off the urge to laugh. The boy, who I now knew as Kaito, reached out and grasped my hand, grinning once again.

I got the feeling that he liked to grin, it felt free and joyous. I'm not quite sure how I knew that, I've never been good at reading people. I vowed to get better at it, if just to unravel this wonderfully mysterious boy in front of me. He snapped me out of my thoughts, telling me to go talk to the officers and solve the murder.

I did exactly that, running up to a young officer, a new addition to division two if his crisp uniform was any indication. I tugged on his pant leg until he looked down at me. He smiled kindly and leaned down until we were nearly eye to eye.

"What can I do for you?" He asked cheerfully. I explained my reasoning and showed him the evidence. It took a while, nearly ten minutes, but I finally got him to listen to me. An expression of shock took over his face as I concluded.

"You… you figured out all that?" I nodded, and asked him politely to go and tell the inspector what I had deduced. He scrambled to his feet and ran over to the older man, babbling almost frantically, though comprehensibly. I watched as understanding dawned on the inspector, and permitted myself a smug smile because, I had finally done it, I had solved my first successful murder case. The police of course, questioned me on how exactly I had come across the evidence and other related topics after they led the woman away in handcuffs.

By the time I was completely finished with them, it was dark outside and all the trains back to Beika had already left the station. One of the officers, the one that I'd first told my tale to, offered me a ride home once he was done with everything. I accepted and he told me to wait in the station.

On my way out, I looked for Kaito, but the station was deserted. A feeling of disappointment flooded through me and I wondered why I felt like that. I'd only known Kaito for maybe nine minutes, at most and I hadn't even talked to him for all of the time. I finally decided that it was because I didn't know him that well that I felt dissatisfied.

Sort of like I was leaving a good novel unfinished, never knowing the ending. It felt abrupt, and vaguely wrong. I wanted to bring him back, ask more questions, make a study of him, and try to learn what made him tick.

The officer came up behind me and led me to his car, cutting off my chances to look for Kaito. I felt cheated, but kept the feeling to myself. It wouldn't do me any good to upset the man that was being so nice to me, especially since he was my only way home.

We chatted on the drive to my house; I learned that his name was Takagi Wataru, and that he was eighteen years old. He had just joined the police force recently, as I'd guessed, and he was struggling to prove that he belonged there, mostly because he was so young.

He reminded me of myself in a lot of ways and I found myself pitying him as I heard more about his misadventures, particularly his failures to get a girl, Sato Miwako, to notice him. I absently wondered why he was telling me all this, when we arrived at my house. He stopped the car just inside the driveway.

"You don't need to come in with me." I tell him. He shakes his head good naturedly and unbuckled his seat belt. I sighed, knowing that it wouldn't do me any good to argue, and led him into the house.

He talked with my parents and told them about the case I had solved. My mom was shocked and my dad just gave a little smile, like he'd known all along. I sat as Takagi explained all the little nuisances of the case and let my mind wander.

Eventually, they finished talking, and Takagi drove home. I was sent to bed so my parents could discuss what I had done. I heard them talking until the early hours of the morning. When they finally stopped talking, I knew that I had been successful by the smiles on their faces as they woke me.

And that concludes my first meeting with Kuroba Kaito. I wouldn't seen him again for a very long time, but I never once forgot him.

I was glad that I'd met Kaito; he helped me a lot more than he ever could have imagined. Because of our encounter I studied crime novels, and honed my detective skills, worked on my ability to read people and my physical capabilities. Over the years I became quite good at soccer though I soon quit the school team because it was using up too much of my time.

My relationship with my parents changed after that as well, my mom started to see that I wasn't just a cute little accessory, but a living person and that I wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination. My dad started to take more of an interest in me; we had long discussions about Sherlock Holmes, mysteries and best of all, lots of conversations about his books. It all fascinated me, and I was thrilled with my new found interests.

Ran and I became better friends once I dropped some of my walls and allowed people to get to know what I was really like. She soon became my best friend and shortly thereafter, my girlfriend. Even though it didn't last long, no more than a month or two, it was one of the happiest times in my life. I genuinely regretted that we broke up, though I knew it was for the best. Since then I'd merely made sure that her new boyfriends were nice, and that they actually cared for her like she deserved.

All of these new things, and new discoveries, kept me busy until the next major event of my life. It would happen nearly 9 years later, a week after my seventeenth birthday.

I would meet Kaito KID.

* * *

**AN:** Just thought I'd sort of.. you know, let you know that I'm alive. I'm honestly on a writer's block regarding Why I Love You... I've got a paragraph or two done but I can't seem to get past it. I know what I want to do with it... the words just don't want to come. Same thing happened with It Started With Discovery and I still haven't gotten around to doing anything with that one yet...

Anyways, this is my first time writing a story using "I" so I'm not really that confident in it. But I edited it a couple of hundred times so it should be okay... I hope. Also, I don't know what I'm doing with this yet... I think that it will be KaiShin (ShinKai?) but I'm not entirely certain... I may just switch things up for the hell of it.

Review please? :)


	2. ch1: Why?

**Our Story - ch1: Why?**

* * *

So here we are once again, at a second beginning. This is the day I re-discovered Kaitou Kid, and started to chase him. It was confusing, and he was one hell of a challenge, but I genuinely enjoyed it. Because of him I've learned that sometimes, winging it is the best option and if you just run with what you've got, it always works out. More or less. Anyways, back to our story...

I was sitting in the library when it happened, debating whether or not to cut my bangs. They were getting annoying. My mother would freak out if they weren't styled a certain way ("I will not let _my _son be a total fashion reject!") but it might be worth it. After all, my life was pretty dull right now. I'd already read all of my Sherlock Holmes novels twice, (and no matter how much I admire him, even I can't bear to read it so much in so little time,) and no new cases in over a week. It amused Ran and Sonoko to no end, since I was considered the "Death God" of Teiten High.

I'd just decided to go and get some scissors when I heard the front door slam open. I paused mid-step. My parents were currently on another vacation to France and wouldn't be back for up to a year (they had a tendency to "lose track of time" more often than not;) The Professor wouldn't have slammed the door; Miyano preferred to surprise me by showing up soundlessly; Ran would have called from the front door; and Hattori would have yelled for me, or phoned first. Probably the former.

Which left only one, unfortunate option. Suzuki Sonoko. I sighed, wondering what nonsense she was trying to drag me into this time. Probably some gossip she heard in class. I grimaced at the thought. Teitan High gossip consisted of only one, well, okay, two things. One of them is the usual dating rumor mill, finding out who is dating who and the like. The other one is guessing who is going to drop dead next. With me around, it's inevitable, but a lot of teenagers are into that sort of thing anyways, so it's not really a surprise.

"Shinichi, you have to help me!" I stopped and stared at the teenage girl that had just invaded my house. She didn't look very distraught. On the contrary, she looked rather excited. She was clutching a newspaper and her eyes were shining as though Christmas had come early. It was a really odd expression to have when asking for help but I've seen way worse. Like just yesterday, Miyano _smirked_ at me and asked for help...

Of course, after seeing that face I said no. What else could I do? She probably wanted me to be a guinea pig for one of her latest bloody experiments. I shuddered, remembering the last time she'd forced me to help her. Even_ she_ admitted that damn capsule could have killed me. I needed at least a week to recover from that one. Who wouldn't after being turned back into an eight-year-old? Thank god she had the antidote, though, that one hurt worse than the first bloody pill.

Nevertheless, it was a great comfort to me to have "Holmes and Watson" in my back pocket. She'd insisted on calling them that, despite it making absolutely zero sense. Something about a pun on the original name. From that she'd come up with "Holmes" the poison, and "Watson" the cure. It was all rather vague to me, but it seemed to make her happy so I let it be, and besides, shrinking could possibly be useful. You never know.*****

"...ichi are you listening to me!?" I blinked and felt myself flush. I really needed to stop getting lost in thought like that.

"Sorry Sonoko, what were you saying?" I asked sheepishly. She sighed and shoved the newspaper in my face. The word "Kaitou" caught my eye and I skimmed through the paragraph until my eyes lighted on a riddle set halfway down the page.

_"On the eve of the 13th of two,  
__When the moon reaches high,  
__And the 12th chime is struck,  
__His Lady's love will be mine."_

_-Kaitou KID_

Below that, there was a caricature with a top hat, a monocle and a wide toothy grin, the brim of the hat created shadows along the top right of the head. It seemed familiar, yet it wasn't. Suddenly I realized that the smile was way too wide. I didn't know how I knew about the normal version, but this one was definitely wrong. I frowned absently and wondered what it meant, if anything.******

My hands automatically reached for the notepad that wasn't there anymore. Ran moved it when she was helping me clean the house and I wasn't sure where she put it. My eyes scanned the room with little success. I sighed. Ran never told me where she put anything. She was good at organizing, but that didn't help me when I already had my own system. I fished my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed her number.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Ran, where did you put my notepad? I can't find it."

"Isn't it on the desk in the study?" I rushed into the hallway and opened the door to the study. There it was, lying right across the desk. I breathed a sigh of relief and found a pen. "Why do you need it? New case?"

"No, Sonoko just gave me a riddle actually." I flinched at the disapproval in her voice. She didn't mind the fact that I was, (as dubbed by Sonoko,) a "Mystery Geek Extraordinaire," she just hated how much danger I put myself in. I didn't do it on purpose, but I was too used to doing everything by myself. It was like a bad habit that I couldn't break. I knew that, yet I continued with it. Reminding myself not to be a stubborn idiot, I recited the riddle.

"That sounds like one of Kid's Heist notices." I could practically hear the thoughtful frown on her face. "But still, his lady's love? Doesn't he usually go after gemstones and jewelry?"

"No idea, she just kind of shoved it at me, but I think it did say Kaitou Kid." I walked back to the library and grabbed the newspaper. "Yeah it does. Who is he again? I remember hearing the name before, and I definitely recognize the picture in the signature but I can't remember for the life of me where I've seen it."

"How do you not know who he is!?" I winced and pulled the phone away from my ear. "He's the greatest jewel thief in Japan!"

"Sorry, sorry." I muttered, already writing out the riddle and adding notes to it. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay, but remember not to work on the riddle too long. We've got a science test tomorrow and I'll wager you haven't studied for it." She said sternly. I smiled slightly at her concern and dutifully promised to study. Satisfied, she hung up.

I pulled the newspaper and notepad side-by-side and penned more notes. I felt Sonoko's eyes flicker to me every once in a while as she ranted about something or other. The scratching of the pen across paper did little to dull her voice but I was used to ignoring her. I frowned at the last piece of the riddle. It didn't make any sense, unless...

"Sonoko, was this note sent to your dad?" When she stopped mid sentence and nodded, I continued. "Has he donated any emeralds to a museum lately?" Again, she nodded. "Did he dedicate it to your mother?" She took a moment to consider it before nodding a third time. Sure now of my deduction, I started to speak. "Kid is going to steal that gem."

* * *

"Could he _get_ any louder?" I grumbled, eyeing Inspector Nakamori. He might be the head of the taskforce, but in my opinion, he was an idiot. I mean honestly, getting more officers isn't good, it gives Kid more opportunities to disguise himself. And if even half of what I'd read about the thief in the last day was true then that wasn't the least of our worries. I scowled, wishing Sonoko had asked me for help sooner. I might have had a better idea of what to expect.

"I don't think so, at least I hope not." Ran said, wincing a bit as he started to shout again. Apparently an officer named Ouma, new to the taskforce, had left his post unmanned when the alarms were being tested, thinking it was a real emergency. I chuckled slightly, reminded of how Takagi had been at first. Though he was still a bit thick witted at times, he was slowly being transformed into a competent detective. Mostly it was due to the fact that he had "claimed" the heart of Sato Miwako, and it had boosted his confidence no small amount.

"Oi, the married couple over there, shush, I'm trying to listen for Kid-sama!" Sonoko complained. I frowned at her as Ran blushed and denied our married state. Shouldn't she be _watching_ for Kid, not listening? Unless...*******

"Hello Kaitou Kid." I greeted. The "girl" in question turned to look at me, her eyes wide with incredulity. I just smiled patronizingly at her and waited for a response. Suddenly, "she" grinned. It was a grin that told you that "she" knew something you didn't, something you probably never would know. A shiver ran down my spine and the grin widened. I felt the brush of a hand at my hip but had no time to consider it as there was a flash and smoke poured from some unseen place, then, "she" was gone.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A voice exclaimed, somewhere near the center of the room. My eyes strained to see past the smoke and I caught a flicker of white out of the corner of my eye. There stood Kid in all his white caped glory, mocking everyone by being so close, yet _just_ out of reach. I knew from the enraged yells of Nakamori that this was a regular occurrence. At once the head of the taskforce started shouting orders. Officers ran at the thief, and he just laughed at them.

"I'm sorry, but I really must be off. Places to go, people to see." Kid called, turning and disappearing. I looked and followed through the only exit he could have taken. The roof. The stairs were long, but he was running them too, he couldn't be too far ahead. And even if he was, I could make up some time easily. The professor's inventions were all sorts of useful. When they worked anyways.

This invention was a favorite of mine, dubbed the Super Sneakers by the professor. When turned on they stimulated the muscles of the foot and made the wearer able to kick farther, and with more force. Or in my current case, jump higher and longer. They would allow me to bypass the staircase with ease. I turned the knob to low, medium and above would put my head through roof, and I really wasn't too fond of the idea of being affixed to the ceiling like a puck light.

* * *

"So we meet again." Kid called, perched precariously on the metal railing, his lips tugged upwards into a smirk. My eyes habitually tried to make contact with his but they were in shadows, only a monocle was visible, shining out of the darkness. "So, tell me. Who are you? I can't seem to find anything about you here." I suddenly noticed the small handheld device he was holding. Absently I wondered about the fact that he couldn't find me, I mean, it was unusual to say the least. I'd been involved in at least two or three dozen cases. But my mind was on what appeared to be Kid's cell phone. If I could just get it...********

"Kudo Shinichi, a detective." I said. My fingers reached surreptitiously for the knob on my belt. Another invention of the professor's, it allowed me to get full-sized, inflated soccer balls when there was nothing around for me to kick. I flicked the knob on and waited for a few seconds. Then a few more seconds. "Eh?" The little machine inside was straining, but it wasn't working.

"So the little boy on the train grew up, did he?" Kid muttered. I was sure that I wasn't supposed to have heard it but I felt the urge to comment on it anyways. Then he got this far away look on his face and I found I couldn't bring myself to interrupt. Then again, it wasn't like I_ could_ interrupt seeing as my belt was apparently jammed. Suddenly the grin snapped back onto his face, but it felt forced this time. "Well, it was nice meeting you Tantei-kun, but as I've said, I really must be off."

He stood up, perfectly balanced and to this day I don't know why I spoke then, but I did. "Why?" I asked. I wasn't even sure if I what I was asking at that point. But I wanted to know. He just looked at me, at least I think he did. His eyes were still in shadows. Then a slow smile spread across his face, as if he was laughing at some private joke.

I felt the sudden urge to smile with him and acted on it. The smile on the thief's face widened into a grin and he said to me, clear as day. "Maybe I'll tell you someday."

* * *

"Shinichi... does this mean anything to you?" the professor called to me, looking puzzled. I walked over to him and glanced at what he was working on. "I found it in your belt, it's the reason the ball mechanism got jammed."

"...Stupid thief!" I mumbled, taking the small piece of volcanic rock out of the professor's hand. It was pure sleek black, and shone brilliantly, marred only by the doodle in white of Kaitou Kid's caricature. He had probably slipped it in during the smoke spell I thought, recalling the hand I'd felt. I sighed, and something told me that this wasn't the last I was going to be sighing over him.

* * *

***The original poison was APTX4869 which can also be said as apotoxin shi-ha-ro-ku which is a pun on Sherlock. Thus, the "Holmes and Watson" adaptation.**

****In this story, Kaito's signature is just a tiny bit different from his father's original. I say this because I think that Kaito just has more mischief in him and to me, his grin is just wider somehow. Is that strange? Probably is... oh well...**

*****Kid was listening for Nakamori's countdown and mistook watch for listen, and Shinichi clued into his identity from that.**

******Yes, I knew, he would have found at least something about Shinichi but that isn't the point here. He wants to make sure it really is Shinichi the boy he met 9 years ago on the train. He doesn't trust the internet. 'Cause Google can actually be wrong believe it or not...**

* * *

**AN:** Well, I finally finished it! This story (which I've affectionately nicknamed Bones because the abbreviation is OS which is the spelling of bones in French, thus the name) is a hell of a lot harder to write than I thought it would be... Either way, it's done now. And I'm going to be focusing of WILY or one of my other unfinished stories for now. So it might be a while before this gets updated again, but I swear to god I won't abandon it, so don't worry!


	3. ch2: Interested Party

**Our Story - ch2: Interested Party**

* * *

It turns out that I was quite right in my prediction. Sighing over Kid became a monthly (sometimes weekly) occurrence. He would show up and let us get within inches of catching him… and then he would disappear once again into the moonlight. It was frustrating and at times, I considered giving up. But, as ever, I couldn't quite manage it. To leave a mystery unsolved would be practically criminal. And so, the cycle continued. Until one day in September, a little over eight months since that first moonlit Heist, everything changed.

It was another night, and another Heist. This time Kid was after a silver statue carved in the image of an angel, her hands raised high above her head as she held up the gem known as her "Rising Star." It was a bright stone, the color of blood, and it gleamed beautifully under the artificial lights installed in the west wing of the museum. At the time, I could only imagine how positively lovely it would look in the full glow of the moon.

I reached into my pocket and absently traced the white caricature on the black stone that I always had with me. It was a curious habit I'd developed since I'd acquired the rock. Though at first I hadn't been very pleased by my fingers' new found pastime (it was a constant reminder of a notoriously annoying thief) in time I found that having something to do with my hands helped me think almost as well as kicking around a soccer ball. Thus, I continued to carry it on my person.

"I thought I told you to get that damn door secured!" A smile flitted across my face. The shouting and cursing never stops, does it, I thought, glancing at the red faced Inspector. As if sensing my gaze, he turned and our eyes locked. Damn. "And what is he doing here?!"

I rolled my eyes and stifled a laugh. No matter that I'd been working with them for over half a year, and that I was more a part of the Taskforce than Hakuba had ever been (and I wasn't nearly as obsessed and arrogant as him,) I was still an outsider in his eyes. "I'm doing my job Inspector."

"Right, Megure did hire you, didn't he?" Nakamori mumbled. Three months ago, I retorted mentally. "But that still doesn't explain why you're here! His team deals with homicides, not thieves!"

"True, but he said I ought to keep an eye on Kid. You know that snipers have been targeting him." I frowned. The shootings had started almost right after Kid first appeared after his eight year disappearance but they had never been as constant as they had been in the past four months. Shootings happened almost every Heist and though no one had gotten hurt yet Megure was worried. "It's far easier for a teenager to blend in with the crowd outside a Heist than it would be for an adult."

"That's true," he allowed grudgingly, "just don't get in the way."

You're far more likely to get in my way, I remarked silently. Though they were improving with time (and a great deal of dropped hints on my part) the Taskforce was still somewhat lacking in ingenuity and, well, skills. But they were progressing and that was at least something.

I turned to the stairs and started the long climb to the roof. I had long since ceased to watch Kid's "show" downstairs, preferring to wait for him. Crisp night air hit me as I stepped off the final landing. That's odd... I hurried my step.

Finally I spotted the open door leading to the roof. The door that should've been closed and locked (for all the good it did). I peered cautiously around the corner, finger on the ball dispensing button of my belt. A low hum met my ears. I relaxed marginally, recognizing the tone as that of a young girl. The tone suddenly deepened into that of a teenager and then sank into that of an adult, all changing depth and gender with frightening speed.

I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief. Kid, harmless. I paused, when did I start thinking of criminals as harmless? I shook my head and stored away the thought for later contemplation. A few steps brought me out the door and halfway to the railing where Kid was perched, gem in one hand, held up to the moonlight in a ritual that I'd by now seen countless times.

"What are you searching for anyways?" I asked. Knowing that he wouldn't answer hadn't dispelled my curiosity. He smiled. It was something I was seeing from him a lot more often. It was nice to see him smiling. I liked it a lot better than the usual shark grin that he showed the Task Force.

"That's a story for when I have more time, and less police officers on my tail." Kid said, adding wistfully. "And more alcohol." The admission startled me. He almost never revealed anything about his life, or his quest. I opened my mouth to question him but the razor sharp smirk was back in place, this time a little forced. He tossed the gem to me and I caught it as usual and stowed it away in my jacket pocket.

He took a step off the railing and stopped, standing with seeming negligence in midair. He turned back to more and I could've sworn he was scowling under the shadow of his hat. "Nearly forgot," he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a scarlet colored envelope with swirling letters on the back, spelling out "KUDO SHINICHI" in gold. "This is for you." He held it out to me and I took it cautiously.

"Who sent it?" I questioned, turning over the envelope in my hands. The paper felt old but anything as old as I _thought_it was should be able to retain its shape. The package was also slightly heavier than a letter ought to be, and there was an odd hard shape beneath the paper. Frowning, I wondered what was in it. Then again, given how unhappy Kid seemed to be, maybe he really didn't want to know.

"A... a friend of mine." There was a kind of halting acceptance in the word friend . "She told me to give this to you," he shifted uncomfortably, "said that it would help you." I pulled out the letter, now more curious than I was afraid of it. It read:

_Dear detective,_

_Meddling with a crow's dinner is never smart. Keep on the path you are, and you will have only yourself to blame for the results._

_Sincerely,  
__An interested party_

_P.S I have enclosed something that might be of aid to you should you chose to ignore my warning. Use it wisely._

I reached into the envelope again and my hands met with something cold. I jerked my hand back automatically and suddenly Kid was about three inches from my face, looking distinctly worried. The blood rushed to my cheeks and I stepped back, not even sure why I was blushing. Kid blinked and leaned away, looking a bit puzzled before the worried look made a reappearence.

This time I shook the contents of the envelope into my hand. A silver chain fell out. Upon closer inspection it was a rather long chain and it had an intricate spade charm attached to it. Unexpected laughter greeted my ears and I turned to see Kid doubled over in mirth, his top hat balanced precariously on his head and looking as if it would fall any minute. "...Can't ...believe I got ...so worked up ...over a, a _necklace_..!" He choked out between laughs.

Now it was my turn to scowl as I shoved the necklace unceremoniously into my pocket. I stomped off the roof and slammed the door behind me, which only made the thief laugh harder. Down in the lobby I shoved the gem at Nakamori, muttered something resembling "I'm going home" and left, leaving behind only the sound a screeching tires and the smell of burned rubber.

* * *

**AN: ***is shot* So it's finally, finally done. So sorry it took so long but as I've probably mentioned several times before: High school is a bitch. This turned out way shorter than I wanted it to be... Oh well. All the rest of the chapters are ridiculously long, so I guess this is compensating. At least it isn't as short as the paragraphs of a chapter I used to write way back when I was just starting out.

EDIT: This chapter hates me. Stupid html codes, I hate you. You too link.

So, I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews always appreciated!

Necklace ref: Check the dA version of this fic for it... FF hates me right now and won't let me upload the link...


	4. AN: Anybody home?

Hi,

Well, I'm just wondering (since I got no reviews on chapter 3) is anyone still reading this? I mean, if no one is reading it I might as well discontinue it here, so...

Just, let me know if you're still there, yeah?

From,  
Athie L.

**EDIT:**

Dear readers,

Thank you so much to all the people who left reviews to let me know they were reading. I'm really glad you did, 'cause I was kinda upset about it.

Anyways, I'll be working on the new chapter soon, please bear with my lack of any real progress until then.

Love,  
Athie L.


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